Fork balljoint separator made a mess of rubber shoe

The message from "Dave Plowman (News)" contains these words:

It's never worked for me. Stick to the proper puller.

The theory is fine - after all it's how you break a morse taper on a lathe or drill chuck etc.

But it depends on some part of the assembly being rigidly mounted so the kinetic energy can work - and car steering systems don't fit into this. If you could support one side of the housing with a large mass then accurately whack the other side with a hammer it might - but just what is the point when proper tools are available at reasonable cost?

Indeed. It's not even as though they vary between imperial and metric threads, etc.

Aye..we've all been there.

reg wrote

Do they sell balljoints too? ;)

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Guy King saying something like:

Two hammers have worked for me plenty of times. Nothing mythical about it.

Try reading the original post.

But two hammers just give twice the opportunity to damage something. What's wrong with using a puller?

Yep, just called up £10 for a new track rod arm. I was expecting him to say that he'd already got one in for me ;).

Regards,

Tim

I learnt a lesson not reading word for word. When doing the shock absorbers I only lifted the side I was working on and not 'the front of the car'. This caused no end of amusement trying to refit.

Regards,

Tim

Looked in the Haynes on how to remove the track rod end. Here they have a picture of the proper ball joint puller in use, gutted.

Regards,

Tim

================================== All three types are 'proper' so don't be too hard on yourself. It's a matter of opinion which is best but many people swear by the split wedge type because there are no moving parts to get damaged. It's a bit unfortunate that you wanted to re-use the existing ball joint but that isn't always the case.

And don't forget the twin hammer method which has proved unexpectedly controversial here.

Cic.

The message from Roger Hunt contains these words:

That makes it almost a pingfuckit.

The message from "Dave Plowman (News)" contains these words:

If you're sufficiently coordinated and there's room to swing 'em both you could clout the socket from both sides simultaneously, which if done very well indeed would save all sorts of damage.

The message from Cicero contains these words:

Scissors type, for me. Provided I can find the sodding thing in my garage.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Dave Plowman (News)" saying something like:

Ah, but on those occasions when you don't have a puller, and it's Sunday and the nearest place to get a puller is 30 miles away... you get the picture. Done carefully nobody gets hurt and the leetle ruvver booties stay intact.

I'VE BEEN REPAIRING VW AND OTHER RIDES FOR 9 YEARS AND IF YOU ARE TRUE TO YOU AIM AND APPLY PRESSURE TO THE JOINT TO BE WACKED IT SHOULD TAKE ONE HIT. IT IS A USEABLE METHOD. GUESS IT JUST DEPENDS ON WHO IS SWINGING THE TOOLS.

Can you tell us where you work so we know to avoid you? The correct tool isn't expensive and whacking *anything* with a hammer unnecessarily is simply bad practice. As, BTW, is using caps on news - it's considered shouting.

Most people I spoken to in the flesh have the same ball joint separator I used. Most seemed oblivious to the damage it causes. Same comment as from the guy in the shop. Hit it hard with a hammer in it'll come out.

I'm going to purchase a puller this weekend.

Regards,

Tim